Word a Day
brittle
What does brittle mean?
brittle (adjective): having little elasticity; hence easily cracked or fractured or snapped.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use brittle in a sentence?
- Glass is brittle. (Princeton WordNet 3.1)
How do you pronounce brittle?
/ˈbɹɪtəl/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does brittle come from?
From Middle English britel, brutel, brotel (“brittle”), from Old English *brytel, *bryttol (“brittle, fragile”, literally “prone to or tending to break”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Test yourself: do you know “brittle”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “brittle” mean?
having little elasticity; hence easily cracked or fractured or snapped
Right! That's what “brittle” means.
greatly different from common experience; bizarre, outrageous, strange
Not quite: that's what outlandish means.
lacking distinct or individual characteristics; dull and uninteresting
Not quite: that's what nondescript means.
properly related in size or degree or other measurable characteristics
Not quite: that's what proportional means.
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